Solicitor fee - €3,500 out of €8,000 settlement

D

Dublindapper

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Hi Can some one advise me if I have been "ripped off"

Brif details..

I was living in a house that was being sold. I had no lease and was living there for opver 10years a friend said if thet really want me out they may settle for paying me off...so I got a 'mate' to put me in touch with a lawyer...

After a number of weeks and about 5 letters he settled a deal for 8k. I got 1,000 pre leaving the house and the rest after I had vacated the premisis. After I moved he said that I could come over to his office and get the rest. When there he handed me a check for 3.5k and said the rest is his fee...I knew nothing of the law and accepted...later I said this to another friend and he said that I was 'done' by this guy and the most he should have charged is between 500 and 1000e...do I have any comeback on this matter? any advice would be appericiated.
 
Just curious - did you not ask for a quote or estimate of the likely charges involved when you first contacted him?
 
I got nothing in writing from him at all He did say his fee would depend on the amount of work he had to do....I asked for the file a number of months ago He gave me about 5 letters he had written and some faxes that he sent and recived...nothing was givin regarding his fee or cost breakdown...
 
Have you complained to him since about the fees involved? Did he give you an invoice with a detailed breakdown of the charges? If not you should ask for this now. If, once you get this, you feel that you have a valid complaint and are not getting anywhere with the solicitor himself then you could consider taking the issue to the Law Society as a last resort. Before that though perhaps some of our legal experts here could comment on what might be a reasonable set of costs in a case such as this?
 
ClubMan said:
Before that though perhaps some of our legal experts here could comment on what might be a reasonable set of costs in a case such as this?
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That sounds pretty OTT to me, as the solicitor himself said it would be based on the amount of time involved, at 5 letters and a few faxes I'd say 5 hours absolute tops.

There doesn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary involved and I would have though €1,000 plus VAT would be a very good return, let alone €3,500....
 
I don't see why landlord has to settle a deal / pay you off and why you had to employ the services of a solicior....
AFAIK, landlord has the right to terminate a tenancy at any stage (because he is selling the property) and simply serve a valid notice given you 112days to vacate property.
 
Frankly, I think you have done very well. If you were in the house subjet to a letting agreement, the owner should have simply given you notice to move out by a certain date and then sold the house. So you got paid to move out - good going.
 
Owner may have had to give 112 days notice whic may not have suited.

no doubt the OP did very well, but if the solicitor had said in the first instance that he would charge the fees based on the amount recovered (which would arguably be illegal as a percentage fee cannot be fixed in contentious matters) and told the OP that he didn't think he was due anything but they go 60/40 an anything he did get then fair enough. However the OP was told it would be time based and €600 per hour wouldn't pass taxation of costs....
 
bacchus said:
I don't see why landlord has to settle a deal / pay you off and why you had to employ the services of a solicior....
AFAIK, landlord has the right to terminate a tenancy at any stage (because he is selling the property) and simply serve a valid notice given you 112days to vacate property.
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What if the purchasers had specified a closing date within that period, owner may well have realised just before closing that he had a potential problem with the OP. Not worth losing the sale for.
 
......I don't see why landlord has to settle a deal / pay you off and why you had to employ the services of a solicior....

I never had a lease, the "landlord" was part of a group of lease holders that inherited the lease...no one ever came around and never bothered about the place... He was't a bad bloke at all in fact he is fairly decent man... I could have been humble and walked away but as a landless peasent with no wealth I was in the "Celtic tiger" mode of mind.... everyone was making money out of that old house why couldn't I?.... I Hired a solicitor to play legal argument and got stung...maybe my Karma got me back....aka "what goes around comes around and around again"!..sure its only money!
 
mercman said:
Frankly, I think you have done very well. If you were in the house subjet to a letting agreement, the owner should have simply given you notice to move out by a certain date and then sold the house. So you got paid to move out - good going.
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Be that as it may the solicitor in this case did even better. Whether or not the charges were justified is the key question.
 
I agree with Clubman. If you were lucky ... fair enough but it really is a bit rich to charge the amount the solicitor did charge. In fairness it realy is cases like this that gets the legal profession a bad name.
 
Yes-let's please stay on topic-are the charges justified/legitimate?

Whether or not the OP is 'lucky to be getting anything' from the landlord is not relevant to the solicitor's fee.

Thanks
 
OK so. The only manner in which a real decision can be made is to request from the solicitor a itemised bill and a schedule of affairs. It really is pointless for us all to cast aspersions or otherwise without knowing the full facts, level of work and all matters.
 
Indeed-on the surface the charges appear exorbitant, but a breakdown would be useful.
 
While it is certainly true that we do not have all the facts, such facts as are outlined by the OP do seem to indicate fairly blatant overcharging. Unless the 'mate' recommended some top-drawer high-flyer kind of solicitor, or the work involved was more than appears (both of which seem unlikely) it is hard to see how the fee could be justified.

OP should contact Law Society asap. Results of this should be posted back here in due course for the edification of all.
 
MOB said:
OP should contact Law Society asap. Results of this should be posted back here in due course for the edification of all.
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Surely they should get the detailed invoice and some explanation from the solicitor first and only then go to the LS if things are not explained or resolved satisfactorily?
 
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That should basically explain everything that the OP needs to do to complain to the Law Society.

I would think that the fees charged were excessive on the information.
 
ClubMan said:
Surely they should get the detailed invoice and some explanation from the solicitor first and only then go to the LS if things are not explained or resolved satisfactorily?
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Exactly, the LS will likely ask has the OP had a breakdown of fee's anyway! The solicitor does appear to have ripped the OP off, obtain a detailed invoice asap.
 
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